१२१

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सायण-भाष्यम्

‘ हिरण्यगर्भः’ इति दशर्चं नवमं सूक्तं प्रजापतिपुत्रस्य हिरण्यगर्भाख्यस्यार्षं त्रैष्टुभम् । कशब्दाभिधेयः प्रजापतिर्देवता । तथा चानुक्रान्तं - हिरण्यगर्भो दश हिरण्यगर्भः प्राजापत्यः कायम् ’ इति । गतः सूक्तविनियोगः । प्राजापत्यस्य पशोर्वपापुरोडाशहविषां क्रमेणादितस्तिस्रोऽनुवाक्यास्ततस्तिस्रो याज्याः । सूत्रितं च – ‘ हिरण्यगर्भः समवर्तताग्र इति षट् प्राजापत्याः (आश्व. श्रौ. ३. ८) इति । वरुणप्रघासेषु कायस्य हविषो हिरण्यगर्भ इत्येषा याज्या। सूत्रितं च — ‘ कया नश्चित्र आ भुवद्धिरण्यगर्भः समवर्तताग्र इति प्रतिप्रस्थाता वाजिने तृतीयः ’ (आश्व श्रौ. २. १७ ) इति ।।

Jamison Brereton

121 (947)
Ka “Who?”
Hiraṇyagarbha Prājāpatya
10 verses: triṣṭubh
This hymn takes the form of a cosmogony, but here the creative principle is unnamed or has no name. Rather than declaring its deity, the hymn’s refrain is a question: “Who is the god to whom we should do homage with our oblation?” Although without a name, the deity has a form. In the first verse the poet calls it hiraṇyagarbhá “the golden embryo” (vs. 1a), the yolk of an egg (cf. Lommel 1939), thus anticipating later myths of creation from a world-egg (e.g., Vāmana Purāṇa Saromāhātmya XXII.17). But the “golden embryo” is also the sun, which here is born as the center of the cosmos. Toward the end of the hymn, in verse 7, the poet gives the still unnamed principle a second identity not just as a god but as “the life of the gods” (devā́nām…ásuḥ). The last verse finally attaches a name to the unnamed principle, but this verse is a later addition (Oldenberg 1888: 248), reflect ing a redactional effort not to leave the mystery of this principle unresolved. In that verse the deity is revealed to be Prajāpati, the “Lord of Creatures,” who in the Brāhmaṇas is both the creator god and the archetype of the sacrifice. Later tradition confirms the identity of this principle by understanding the constantly repeated ká “who?” to be a name of Prajāpati. Accordingly the Anukramaṇī desig nates Ka as the deity of this hymn.
In a very perceptive interpretation of the hymn Proferes (2007: 140–41) shows the relation of this hymn to the ideology of kingship. In the royal unction ritual the king is reborn by means of the unction waters as a being with the power and brilliance of the sun. This hymn reproduces the elements of that rite: the conception of an embryo (vss. 1, 7) and a ruler (vss. 1, 2, 3), the waters (vss. 7, 8, 9) that bear an embryo (vs. 7), and the birth of fire (vs. 7). The unnamed principle encompasses the entire world (vss. 4, 5, 10), and its power extends in every direction (vs. 4) and over every being (vss. 2, 3, 8), as the king (ideally) is the master of the world, whose power extends everywhere. Likewise, the unnamed principle supports the world—making it firm (vs. 5) and steady (vss. 5, 6)—and gives it life (vss. 2, 7), as the king maintains and preserves the world.
Structurally, the hymn is organized as an almost unbroken series of dependent clauses. The first series of relative clauses, hanging off the main clauses in verse 1, lasts from verses 2 through 6. Verse 7 then re-establishes the pattern, for it has a main clause, on which the relative clauses in verse 8 depend. The phrase “he alone existed” in verses 1b and 8c create a ring, which defines the boundaries of the main body of the hymn. Outside this ring and outside the main body of the hymn, verse 9 repeats in miniature the pattern of preceding verses. It has a main clause in 9a, which is followed by three more relative clauses and concluded by the refrain. The verse is an appeal to the unnamed deity to do no harm, making it also thematically distinct from the main body of the hymn. Like verse 10, it too may have been a later addition, as Thieme (1964: 69) has asserted.

01 हिरण्यगर्भः समवर्तताग्रे - त्रिष्टुप्

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हि॒र॒ण्य॒ग॒र्भः सम॑वर्त॒ताग्रे॑ भू॒तस्य॑ जा॒तः पति॒रेक॑ आसीत् ।
स दा॑धार पृथि॒वीं द्यामु॒तेमां कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥

02 य आत्मदा - त्रिष्टुप्

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य आ॑त्म॒दा ब॑ल॒दा यस्य॒ विश्व॑ उ॒पास॑ते प्र॒शिषं॒ यस्य॑ दे॒वाः ।
यस्य॑ छा॒यामृतं॒ यस्य॑ मृ॒त्युः कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥

03 यः प्राणतो - त्रिष्टुप्

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यः प्रा॑ण॒तो नि॑मिष॒तो म॑हि॒त्वैक॒ इद्राजा॒ जग॑तो ब॒भूव॑ ।
य ईशे॑ अ॒स्य द्वि॒पद॒श्चतु॑ष्पदः॒ कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥

04 यस्येमे हिमवन्तो - त्रिष्टुप्

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यस्ये॒मे हि॒मव॑न्तो महि॒त्वा यस्य॑ समु॒द्रं र॒सया॑ स॒हाहुः ।
यस्ये॒माः प्र॒दिशो॒ यस्य॑ बा॒हू कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥

05 येन द्यौरुग्रा - त्रिष्टुप्

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येन॒ द्यौरु॒ग्रा पृ॑थि॒वी च॑ दृ॒ळ्हा येन॒ स्वः॑ स्तभि॒तं येन॒ नाकः॑ ।
यो अ॒न्तरि॑क्षे॒ रज॑सो वि॒मानः॒ कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥

06 यं क्रन्दसी - त्रिष्टुप्

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यं क्रन्द॑सी॒ अव॑सा तस्तभा॒ने अ॒भ्यैक्षे॑तां॒ मन॑सा॒ रेज॑माने ।
यत्राधि॒ सूर॒ उदि॑तो वि॒भाति॒ कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥

07 आपो ह - त्रिष्टुप्

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आपो॑ ह॒ यद्बृ॑ह॒तीर्विश्व॒माय॒न्गर्भं॒ दधा॑ना ज॒नय॑न्तीर॒ग्निम् ।
ततो॑ दे॒वानां॒ सम॑वर्त॒तासु॒रेकः॒ कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥

08 यश्चिदापो महिना - त्रिष्टुप्

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यश्चि॒दापो॑ महि॒ना प॒र्यप॑श्य॒द्दक्षं॒ दधा॑ना ज॒नय॑न्तीर्य॒ज्ञम् ।
यो दे॒वेष्वधि॑ दे॒व एक॒ आसी॒त्कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥

09 मा नो - त्रिष्टुप्

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मा नो॑ हिंसीज्जनि॒ता यः पृ॑थि॒व्या यो वा॒ दिवं॑ स॒त्यध॑र्मा ज॒जान॑ ।
यश्चा॒पश्च॒न्द्रा बृ॑ह॒तीर्ज॒जान॒ कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥

10 प्रजापते न - त्रिष्टुप्

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प्रजा॑पते॒ न त्वदे॒तान्य॒न्यो विश्वा॑ जा॒तानि॒ परि॒ ता ब॑भूव ।
यत्का॑मास्ते जुहु॒मस्तन्नो॑ अस्तु व॒यं स्या॑म॒ पत॑यो रयी॒णाम् ॥